Human Resource Management Assignment: HRM Challenges and Strategies

This assignment delves into critical aspects of human resource management, addressing challenges in mergers and acquisitions, the impact of sexual harassment, and the advantages of internal recruitment. The first section analyzes the challenges faced by HR managers during mergers, using the Bupa and NBF merger as a case study, highlighting communication, policy alignment, and talent retention. The second section explores the long-term effects of sexual harassment on organizations, emphasizing decreased job satisfaction and productivity, and proposes strategies like zero-tolerance policies and training to mitigate these issues. The final section discusses the benefits of filling positions internally, using Fiji Airways as an example, focusing on increased employee morale, cost-effectiveness, and reduced recruitment risks. The assignment provides a comprehensive overview of HRM strategies and challenges with examples to support the arguments.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 0
Human Resource Management
Student’s Details-
7/18/2019

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 1
Mergers and Acquisition Strategy
Mergers and acquisition is an effective strategy where two firms acquire each other’s resources
and capabilities for their mutual benefit. Similarly, Bupa merged with NBF in order to retain the
talented human resources (Nelson, 2018). However, the human resource managers have faced
challenges by this merger which is discussed further.
When two firms decide to merge the management and resources, human resources manager has
to face many challenges. The Bupa health insurance group merged with NBF group which led
the human resource managers to face many challenges. Firstly, the managers have to face the
challenge of communication. This means the managers of both the parties have to communicate
the necessity for change, policies and culture of both the companies involved (Lee, 2015). For
example, in case of the merger of Bupa and NBF, the manager has to provide the information
regarding the insurance plans, health programs and the reason for the collaboration made which
can have a negative impact if the employees are against this. Second challenge that the human
resource manager may face is to decide the HR policies and practices that are complimenting to
both the companies (Abugre, 2014). Similarly, the Bupa and NBF merger may be a challenging
thing for HR manager as the manager has to evaluate the compensation, benefits and other
contracts that the merger is giving. The human resources manager has to oversee the required
policies and practices and have to implement new combined plans and policies on which both the
parties are agreed upon. Third challenge that the HR manager confront in merger and acquisition
strategy is in retaining the talented people in the company by identifying the new organizational
structure and deciding upon the recruitment (O'Neil, 2017) . For example, in case of Bupa and
NBF, the human resource manager of the companies involved have to face the challenges in
taking decisions regarding the employees to be recruited. When two organizations are merged
they have different cultures. Therefore, HR manager has to analyze the organizational structures
in order to make a decision regarding the talent they want to recruit and motivate them.
In the end, it can be said that Mergers and Acquisitions have their own importance when it is
implemented in a better way and is accepted by all. However, it has many challenges as well.
The merger of insurance company Bupa with NBF has given many benefits but simultaneously it
is a challenging part for the HR managers.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 2
Effects of Sexual Harassment Behaviors
The identification sexual harassment behaviors are important for the organization as it ultimately
affects their productivity. There are serious consequences of sexual harassment as it decreases
the job satisfaction and influences the performance of employees. Therefore certain actions are
taken by the organizations to avoid them which are discussed further.
Sexual harassment behavior has an adverse effect on the organization. This kind of behavior
affects the job satisfaction as the employees especially women get demotivated by this behavior
and it ultimately leads to their job withdrawal (Nielsen, et al., 2017). Being sexual harassed at the
workplace, women face serious health and psychological conditions that affect their health which
forces them to quit the job. All these factors have consequences on the productivity of the
organization because of losing of the most valuable human resources of the organization. It is
important for the organization to identify the sexual harassment. It can be identified through
measuring the turnover rates of the employees leaving the organization due to being harassed and
harassing the employees (Bussing, 2018). Sexual harassment can also be identified through
evaluating absences rates because when someone is sexually them they might not come in the
workplace due to fear. Employees also face major health crisis especially women due to which
they take leaves from the office. These activities affect the productivity of the organization and
however major steps should be taken to avoid sexual harassment at workplace (Fattal, 2018).
Creation of zero tolerance policy is an effective way of reducing the sexual harassment as it
states a written policy of not tolerating harassment. This acts as a discipline against the
wrongdoings of employees and also makes the organization effective. The organizations must
provide adequate training to the employees about the policies of providing harassment free
workplace. This can be possible by undertaken appropriate training sessions and encouraging
employees to use them. The same also applies with supervisors and managers who should be
educated regarding sexual harassment by sessions and are also trained to handle the complaints
pertaining to this issue. All these steps help in creating a positive working environment and
encourage employees to achieve the goals.
Sexual harassment is a major issue in the organization which affects the productivity of the
organization. It has long term effects on the organization which needs to be avoided and hence

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 3
major steps are taken by the organizations to create a safe and secure environment for the
employees.
Filings positions with current employees
Recruitment is a complex process of filling the vacant positions in the organization. Organization
can have many disadvantages if it is recruiting the employees from internal sources rather than
external sources (McConnell, 2019). Fiji Airways which is an Airlines company who focus upon
promoting current employees to overcome the shortage of labor and has many advantages which
are discussed further.
For filling up of the vacant positions, current employees are promoted rather than using external
sources as it has many advantages. Recruiting through internal sources increases the morale of
the employees and creates a sense of belonging into the employees (Wroblewski, 2018). For
example in case of Fiji Airways, the company promotes or transfers the employees within the
company rather than going for external sources. The company is facing the issue of labor
shortages and has adopted various strategies as well to eradicate the problem. Filling positions
through current employees is cost effective as the companies do not have to spend a lot on the
recruitment on gathering and maintaining data which is a time consuming process. Doing
recruitment through existing employees carries less risk as the organization is already aware of
the employees, their nature and way of doing work. Therefore, it will be beneficial for the
organization get work done through them (Slezak, 2012). Similarly, Fiji Airways can also get
benefit from the existing employees and can protect themselves from the complex process of
recruitment. When employees are hired within the organization then they are more likely to give
better results than the employees recruited from outside. These employees are nominated by
managers who are aware of the capabilities and knowledge of the employees. The organizations
do not have to spend money on training and development of the employee as they are already
aware of the system and work expectations. Similarly, Fiji Airways has chosen the current
employees for filling up the vacant positions as it gives them an opportunity to reduce the labor
shortages.
Sourcing of employees through current employees is an effective source of recruitment and has a
lot of advantages. To conclude it can be sad that there are many advantages for the organizations

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to recruit internally through promotion and transfers. It serves as a cost and effective source of
recruitment for the companies.
References
Abugre, J. B., 2014. Caretakers or HR Managers: The Role of HR Managers in Facilitating the
Acquisition of Public Enterprises of Developing Countries by MNCs. Sage Open, 4(3), pp. 1-10.
Bussing, H., 2018. How to Identify Sexual Harassment in Your Organization. [Online]
Available at: https://www.saba.com/blog/how-to-identify-sexual-harassment-in-your-
organization
[Accessed 18 July 2019].
Fattal, A. B., 2018. Sexual harassment in the workplace: how organizational policies can make a
difference. [Online]
Available at: https://news.fiu.edu/2018/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace-how-organizational-
policies-can-make-a-difference
[Accessed 18 July 2019].
Lee, R., 2015. 5 Key Challenges HR Faces during a Merger or Acquisition. [Online]
Available at: https://blog.careerminds.com/blog/hr-challenges-mergers-acquisitions
[Accessed 18 July 2019].
McConnell, B., 2019. Harnessing internal and external sources of recruitment. [Online]
Available at: https://blog.recruitee.com/sources-of-recruitment/
[Accessed 18 July 2019].
Nelson, T., 2018. Mergers and Acquisitions from A to Z. In: Mergers and Acquisitions from A to
Z. s.l.:Amacom, p. 372.
Nielsen, M. et al., 2017. Sexual harassment in care work – Dilemmas and consequences: A
qualitative investigation. International Journal of Nursing Studies, Volume 70, pp. 122-130.
O'Neil, E., 2017. Three key challenges of a merger or acquisition. [Online]
Available at: https://www.icas.com/professional-development/three-key-challenges-of-a-merger-

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or-acquisition
[Accessed 18 July 2019].
Slezak, P., 2012. 5 Reasons Why Internal Recruitment is the Best Place to Start. [Online]
Available at: https://recruitloop.com/blog/keeping-it-in-house-5-reasons-why-internal-
recruitment-is-the-best-place-to-start/
[Accessed 18 July 2019].
Wroblewski, M., 2018. The Advantages of Internal Recruitment Sources. [Online]
Available at: https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/advantages-internal-recruitment-sources-
8989.html
[Accessed 18 July 2019].